Meet my Little Urban Garden

I figured it was time I do a post about my vegetable garden. Now, I don't at all claim to be a brilliant gardener, in fact, I'm a pretty lame one. All I ask of my garden is that if I put in a little work, it will give me a little food. I never get enough to can or put away for the winter, but I get enough to make me love fresh, straight from the garden veggies. I'm addicted. I can't buy tomatoes at the grocery store. Those hard or mealy things are not tomatoes. Please, wait until they are in season and grab them fresh off the vine, you won't be sorry.

Here's a quick tour of my little urban garden.

First of all, my favorite of the garden produce is the tomato so I have a lot of them, both in pots and in the ground. I think I planted 24 tomatoes in about 5-6 heirloom varieties including zebras, cherries, and julians. I've collected all my seeds from farmers market tomatoes and my CSA tomatoes. I'll do a post later this summer on collecting tomato seeds. It's so easy!

My tomatoes all in a row

I also have three varieties of cucumbers, including Mexican Sour Gherkins which look like tiny watermelons and have a lemony flavor. I love the way cucumbers climb up the trellis with their telephone-cord death grip. 

This is also my first year growing beans. I have green, purple, yellow wax and edamame this year. My edamame isn't doing great, but the others have given me quite a bit already. Thank you, beans!

And then there's the basil which is a must for a home garden. It's so delicious on pretty much anything, but makes a great pizza topping, is perfect for throwing in a pasta dish, and makes up the base of a simple pesto. This year I'm growing 5 kinds: purple, fine verde, lettuce leaf, cinnamon, and lime. Plus, planting basil with tomatoes is supposed to make your tomatoes taste even better. 

So that's that. Not the prettiest thing ever, but it gives me a little taste of summer produce right from my back yard. With my infrequent waterings and my lack of fertilizing, that's really all I can ask.